Q&A: A Smoothie Recipe For Gout

Q: Can you recommend smoothie ingredients for lowering uric acid and/or to help with gout? – R.S.

A: Gout is a form of arthritis caused by an excessive concentration of uric acids in body fluids. When people have gout, uric acid crystallizes in their joints, tendons, kidneys and other tissues causing inflammation tissue damage and pain.

Gout affects mostly men between the ages of 40 and 50. It is important to increase your water intake to flush out as much uric acid as possible. A vegan diet is ideal since that allows you to minimize protein, the fat in meat and dairy, cheese and preserved meats as well as foods that are high in purines (organ meats, shellfish, herring, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, peanuts, asparagus, mushroom, legumes). All of these have high levels of uric acid.